Today, United States Senator Ken Salazar and Congressmen Mark Udall (CO-2), John Salazar (CO-3) and Ed Perlmutter (CO-7) wrote a letter to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao regarding the recent decision by the department to include 775 Rocky Flats workers from Building 881 under the Special Exposure Cohert (SEC) status. While the delegation members believe the decision is the right one, they are emphasizing that much more remains to be done to address the needs of the additional Rocky Flats workers that deserve compensation for their service to our Nation.
The delegation members wrote, “Building 881 might not be the only facility where crucial information has been overlooked or ignored. It is highly probable that other buildings would qualify under the SEC if we had access to complete records. But, as you are well aware, it has been close to impossible for many Rocky Flats workers to determine the dose of radiation they received due to the shoddy, inaccurate, incomplete, or lack of records that our government maintained, which is why we urged the Secretary to approve the petition in its entirety.”
The delegation also asked several questions that need to be answered, “Further, many questions remain unanswered regarding the Department of Labor’s building review of the Rocky Flats site. For example, was a formal and thorough building review performed? If yes, which federal agency performed the review and is there a spreadsheet that can be made publicly available? Furthermore, when will Rocky Flats workers receive a justification from the Department of Labor as to why a particular building was excluded from the SEC?”
The full-text of the delegation’s letter is available by clicking here.
